Naughty Nuptials
As the chauffeur-driven Ambassador crossed Kakinada, greenery greeted the honeymooners. ‘I never knew that we’re so close to nature,’ exclaimed Sandhya leaning on her man.
“Once we’re in Konaseema, you won’t have eyes even for me,” said Raja Rao feeling refreshed.
“How I wish that Roopa were with us,” said Sandhya, lost in her excitement.
“I’m beginning to get envious of your Roopa,” he said in jest, taking her hand.
“Why so, she only complements my love for you,” she said lovingly.
“What’s so special about her by the way?” he tried to appear casual.
“Simply put, she’s unique, though it feels nice being your wife, her separation hurts me no end. We’ve grown up dreaming living as neighbours,” she said emotively.
“It’s still possible,” he said tentatively,
“Can we move over to Hyderabad!” she said excitedly.
“I love that place like no other, let’s see how soon we can make it,” he said as he made up his mind by then to try to win Roopa’s favour.
“Till then, be prepared for my nagging on that score,” she said, looking into his eyes.
“Won’t I love that,” he said kissing her hand.
“Roopa would be thrilled to hear about that,” she said excitedly.
“Don’t tell her till we’re close to that,” he cautioned her.
“How I wish it were now,” she said, closing her eyes as if in prayer.
“But for now, we’re in Draksharama,” he said.
‘So it portends well, let’s seek Lord Bhemeswara’s blessings,” she said
“Why not, I’ve to thank Him a lot and pray for more,” he said.
Seeing her in reverence before the deity, he could discern the serenity of her beauty and felt beholden for the blessedness that life had bestowed upon him.
“What have you sought from Him?” he asked her as they got back into the car.
“I think, you can guess,’” she said dreamily.
“Why can’t I?” he said lovingly.
“What about your prayer?” she asked him.
“Let it be my secret,” he said smilingly.
“Then keep it under lock and key,” she said feigning anger.
“It’s all about love,” he said effulgently.
“I love you,” she jibed with him joyously.
Soon they reached the shores of Kotipally to cross the Godavari. Sandhya’s fear of water shored up by his assurances en route, sunk her heart as she saw the mighty river in its lean summer course. While the prospect of boating across it shocked her water- phobic psyche, Raja Rao’s coaxing of her, which bordered on pecking, amused the travelers and the boatmen alike. Caught between the onshore embarrassment and the offshore predicament, as Sandhya stepped into the boat as though she were slipping into the river itself, Raja Rao, having jumped into it earlier like a habitual, tended his perplexed bride tenderly into it, and once in, she reached for a cross plank seemingly considering the center of gravity of that which was afloat. Seeing her predicament then, those who sat on it moved away to enable the newly-weds ensconced in the middle. In time, having adjusted herself in trepidation, Sandhya clasped her man as though he were the mast of the boat itself.
During the voyage, when he ventured to toy with the waters, she pulled him in fear and reprimanded him for his daring. Whenever the boat was rocked in motion, she enlaced him in confusion, inducing him to cuddle her for her comfort. As her primordial beauty pixilated by panic evoked pity in him, he was empathic in addressing her apprehensions. However, having got over her fears in his protective embrace, in time, while she felt that she has grasped the meaning of marriage, seeing her at ease thus, he could visualize the power of love over the fear of the unknown.
After turning her attention to the horizon, lined with coconut trees, and watching it for long in fascination, she interested herself in the vastness of the Godavari, and felt that the wavy currents of its bluish green waters synchronized with the romantic beats of her expectant heart. Then, looking lovingly at her man, she experienced rare warmth in her soul, which made her feel that the sheen of their love matched with the glint of the river.
After voyaging for well over an hour, they reached the banks of Mukteswaram, the gateway of Konaseema, where, courtesy Kamalakar’s clout, an Ambassador awaited them. Looking back at the river they just crossed, she felt relaxed and thought, ‘Haven’t my fears got dissolved mid-course making way for hopes!’ At that, as she got into the car, it crossed her mind that by the next day around, she would be on the other bank of her virginal canal. Amused at the thought, she looked at her man in amorous anticipation.
Soon, entering the hinterland, they found the roadside canal on course, seemingly guiding the visitors to their respective destinations. While the unending rows of coconut trees resembled sentries on duty for the visiting dignitaries, the lush green carpets of paddy seedlings went into ripples, as though stirred by their welcoming instinct. Lending variety to the landscape was many a mango grove apart from the fully-grown banana gardens and as if to avoid the monotony of the greenery, habitats abounded all along with cattle sheds as annexes.
“It looks like life is closer to nature in these tiled houses and thatched huts, with cattle for company!” Sandhya wondered aloud.
“It’s an irony that we fail to fuse the new technology with the old environs in fashioning our modern way of living. It’s sad we’ve to choose between nature’s bounty in the rural settings and the make-believe of our urban environs,” he said ruefully.
As if to demonstrate the difference, the driver brought them to Amalapuram, the commercial hub of Konaseema. After some snacks and coffee in a bustling hotel, they resumed their journey to their destination that was far from Hardy’s madding crowds, and as they saw the back of Amalapuram, they came to face to face with the nature all again.
By the time they approached Bhatnavalli, the sun began to set, and the villagers were seen resting in their courtyards. While some men were seen rolling their cigars with lanka pogaku, others were puffing away at theirs. Women there were found gossiping with their neighbors across the fences as if they were mending fences over past quarrels. As the landlords rode home in their bullock carts, farmhands too started trekking back from the fields with their head loads. Giving a picture of the carefree life to the visitors, the youths were engaged in kabaddi and the children were lost in their marbles. As though symbolizing the surging spirit of the fair sex all over, village belles vied with each other to come up trumps in competitive hops in those eight square courts that were marked in the courtyards. However, the hen in helter-skelter disturbed them in between, making them cautious not to step on them.
“This is the famed pilgrimage of Balayogi,” said Raja Rao as they reached Mummidivaram, “the saint who’s said to have been holed up in penance round the year. He was wont to come out of his hibernation only on maha sivarathri for his devotees to have his darshan. It’s believed that he had the power to survive without food or water and lived long for all that.”
“Is it possible!” she asked in surprise.
“Well it’s a matter of faith, while his devotees deify him, his detractors deride him,” he said.
As it was dusk by the time they reached Kothalanka, the Ambassador had a herd of cattle on the homeward stretch to accompany. It seemed the dust raised by the vehicle on the kachcha road matched with the mood of the setting sun. While children ceased playing, watching the spectacle of the four-wheeler in motion, the elders craned their necks to second-guess the destination of the visitors.
-----
When their journey ended at his uncle’s courtyard, said Raja Rao to Sandhya, ‘There’s Thimmaiahgaru for you.’
As they stepped out of the car, the old man came out of the courtyard to receive them, all along blaming the transplantation time for his failure to attend their wedding.
‘The farmhands have become a big nuisance these days,’ grumbled Thimmaiah unceasingly. ‘You’ve to be behind them always or else they would give the slip at every turn. Anyway, I’m glad you’ve come with your wife to your native. I’ve got your house spruced up; let’s see how your wife likes it.’
As he continued to engage them at the gate itself, Narasamma came out of the house, and reprimanded her old man, ‘Why, do you want to send them back from the gate itself?’
Then turning to Sandhya, she said affectionately, ‘I haven’t seen a more beautiful bride in all my life. Our Raja is very lucky. We’ve got excited when we received his letter that you’re coming here. It’s a very sensible thing to do. One shouldn’t forget his roots. We would’ve loved your stay in our home, but it is only proper that you spend some time in his ancestral house. So, you lodge there board here.’
“Thanks for your kindness,” said Sandhya heartily.
“Why haven’t you asked them to come in yet?” said Thimmaiah to his haranguing wife.
“How are Krishna and Krishnaveni?” enquired Raja Rao as he led Sandhya into the verandah.
“They keep writing, asking us to join them, but how could we leave our home and stay with them, that too in the U.S. Though our thoughts are with our children, our desire remains to breathe our last here,” said Thimmaiah stating their position.
“Now that you’ve got married, would you go back to the States?” said Narasamma to Raja Rao.
“Actually, I’m planning to shift to Hyderabad,” said Raja Rao playing music to Sandhya’s ears,
“Let me show you your place, there won’t be any end to her enquiries,” said Thimmaiah leading the newlywed to their honeymoon house.
“Don’t hang around there for long,” said Narasamma as though to get even with her old man.
Led by his uncle, Raja Rao crossed the road with his bride to enter his ancestral house as a prelude.
“I let it be used as our village club for if locked up, it would only dilapidate,” said Thimmaiah justifying his decision.
When Thimmaiah took them to the backyard, with a compound wall, finding a flower-bedecked bed on a high-rise double cot, Sandhya felt embarrassed and looked the other way.
“I appreciate your sentiment in having the family cot here. I thought you would need a table fan as well,” said Thimmaiah to Raja Rao, as though to let Sandhya grasp the significance of it all.
Then he switched it on, as a demonstrator would do in the laboratory.
‘Sorry for the bother but I couldn’t help it, knowing that we would land up late in the evening,” said Raja Rao.
“We’re glad you chose our place for your honeymoon,” said Thimmaiah before he left them all for themselves.
~~~~~
Being all alone for the first time with her man, Sandhya was overwhelmed by the privacy the moment had afforded them. However, as Raja Rao cuddled her in ecstasy, she cajoled him with love.
“How long I’ve been longing for this moment!” he said, caressing her back as she moulded into his embrace for a response.
Then, he raised her head as though to see the essence of her soul but saw her droop her eyelids in anticipation. He showered kisses on them, seemingly to cajole them to sight to make them witness his passion. As the ardour of the moment quivered her lips, he joined his to those for support. Gratified by his gesture, so it seemed, her lips played host to their labial guests. The reciprocity of their explorations that followed enabled them to experience the fondness of their love that permeated their souls. In time, he loosened himself from her enticing grip so as not to cross the threshold before the momentous event.
As they reentered the backyard, as the softness of the bed, lay amidst a bed of roses, has blossomed their anticipation, they reached the nearby well to see their reflections in the moon-lit waters. Having savoured their shadow of closeness, he proposed that they bathe in the open for a real feel of it, and as she protested in shyness, he said in mock innocence,
“Why fear, I’ll keep guard.”
“That’s the threat,” she said, turning coy.
“Let’s find a romantic balance then,” he said persuasively and went up to the cot in measured steps.
He then gestured her to join him and having been amused, she obliged him demurely.
“Its half moon now and I would be twenty steps away; let me gloat over your contours that would shape the course of our love life?” he crooned into her ears endearingly.
“Gents first, in these things,” she suggested.
‘Agreed, if it means courtship manners,” he caught her by her waist and led her to the well.
As he handled the bucket over the overhead pulley, finding some coconuts afloat, she said in wonderment, ‘rural refrigeration!’
Soon, when he was down to his underwear, she thought he resembled a well-chiseled sculpture of a Greek warrior, and as he went on drawing water from the well in bucketfuls, she was charmed watching the contractions of his shapely biceps.
“Would you please soap my back,” he said invitingly.
“All through you behaved like a gentleman I thought, but now you’re showing your naughty side,” she said mischievously.
‘In other words, you were afraid all along that the burden of initiative should’ve landed in your lap. But with the driver around, I had no way but to steer clear of your captivating curves,” he said pulling her nearer to him.
‘I never thought that you’re such a shameless character,” she said turning coy.
“Should a groom turn shy at the threshold, then his bride would’ve to bear the burden of shame” he said in all smiles, “I’m privy to the fact that a cousin of mine didn’t stir in the nuptial bed as though he was in meditation. Finding him tepid to her eager charms, crossing her fingers, his bride felt him at the right place! As you could guess, that did the trick for the rest of the night and ever after.”
Without further fuss, hitching her sari and tucking it, she obliged him.
“I love a little more pressure later,” he said as he winked at her, enjoying the sense of her touch in the slippery medium.
“You seem to be quite experienced at that,” she said tauntingly.
“Can’t that be imaged even without going through that?” he said tentatively.
After his bath, having filled the well-side tub for her use, he retreated to the bed as agreed and waited in anticipation, but she started her bath with her clothes on. Crying foul, he rushed to the well and pulled at her sari, leaving her in her blouse and the petticoat. When his attack was directed at her midriff to untie the ribbon, she agreed to obey and sent him away.
As she began bathing with her back to him, he goaded her to be more open, and as she relented, seeing her myriad movements in nude, he felt as though some romantic poetry acquired her form. When she stepped out wrapped in her bathrobe, he nestled her from behind eagerly and whispered in her ears endearingly, “you look sex fresh,” and as she blushed to her roots, he went on showering her shoulders with warm kisses.
By the time they arrived for dinner, he in his white pajamas and karat and she in her light green cotton sari and a black blouse, the hostess was all set to serve them some spicy dishes. Being hungry, and egged on by the aroma of the preparations, the eager couple ate well to Narasamma’s visceral satisfaction.
After dinner, Narasamma adorned Sandhya’s forehead with kokum and gave her a white voile sari with gold border and said,
“Wives should wear a white sari for the nights as there is none like it to lend appeal to the feminine frame for the male eye as in it lies how much to reveal and what to veil off a woman’s bearing. So, it’s sari that symbolizes the seductive dressing and not that tent called the nighttime for it fails to move their men.”
When the fresh pair left, soon after, the old couple began to reminisce their own sweet times, and as it dawned on them that they forgot to place ‘milk and sweets’ near the nuptial bed for rejuvenation of the just weds, they sent them post-haste with a farmhand.
Soon, laid on the high-rise cot in the courtyard, Raja Rao was impatient for his bride’s arrival and as Sandhya, clad in that white sari, stepped out into the moonlight, he felt as though she were an angel that had descended from the heavens. However, as she neared him, even as his pulse increased, her pace slowed down, and finding her coy to climb up the bed, he clenched her waist to catapult her onto the cot. While she landed herself in his ardent embrace, even as her sari went askance, exposing her shapely legs and baring her alluring blouse, anticipating an ambush, her heartbeat has galloped. What with her breasts heaving heavily, as if to invite him to steady her impulse, when she felt the pressure of his hands on them, she realized that she was in the realms of masculinity. When he began feeling the softness of her belly, she felt fascinated by the firmness of his touch, and as his hands probed the contours of her bottom, she found herself rollicking in anticipation.
In time, as he turned her naked, she dropped her eyes, for she felt shy to espy herself in his presence but when she sensed that he was nude as well, she stole a glance to gauge the measure of his manhood. When he held her firmly against his hairy chest, her breasts had their first brush with maleness, and as he sought for her lips eagerly, she provided them readily for their mutual satiation. Soon, having conquered her heart with his love, he stooped to her feet in passion only to find his way back in time to it on her silken slopes with the labial support. However, having reached her midriff, he rested his head for a while on its slab, but signaled by its spasms, as he changed the direction of his ardour and lent his lips to her labium, she moaned at his labial nuances though as a prelude to guiding him to enter into her well of love. And as his manhood reached the threshold of her maidenhood, her womanhood connived with him to contrive its crossing. Thus, on their way to orgasm, they experienced the ecstasy of their nuptial union brought about by the feeling of lovemaking.
Then fondling his back, as he lay on her in exhaustion, she felt life was worth living if only for that one moment. Seeing he was fulfilled as well, she felt gratified for being the source of his fulfillment, and her own satiation, occasioned by his passion, made him even more endearing to her loving heart. Holding hands in unison, wondering about nature’s ingenuity in conceiving sexual gratification as a means of human fulfillment, they gazed towards the skies, as though to thank the stars for their union. Soon, however, Sandhya couldn’t help but think about her intimacy with Roopa and felt, ‘true our lesbianism entwines our bodies and delights our minds, but in his coition it’s as if his body got fused with mine to our heart’s content.’
Before exhaustion overpowered their youthful exuberance in their nuptial bed and as sleep overtook their adoring gaze, the moon was on its westward descent, but as though it got inkling from its fairer partner on the horizon, the sun lay in wait to catch a glimpse of the nuptial bride in her exhausted sleep. However, as though influenced by his possessive instinct, Raja Rao woke up at dawn to catch the peeping tom in its act, and then turning to Sandhya, who slept spread-eagled, he felt that she looked incredibly splendid. After being deflowered, it seemed as if she flowered overnight to resemble the bedside roses, and seeing her thus in the nascent sunlight, he surged to have more of her fresh youth; and as he pressed against her ardently, she woke up to his ardour to match him amorously.
-----
When it was time for breakfast, Raja Rao and Sandhya went hand in hand to Thimmaiah’s place to be greeted by Narasamma’s steamy idlis and spicy chutneys, and having savored those, they set out for sight-seeing.
Thy sauntered in the paddy fields and roamed about the mango groves until Sandhya became sore footed to go any farther, and ignoring her coy protests, he carried her in his arms, inducing her to cling on to him cosily. But once they reached their coconut plantation, she jumped to the ground as though to view the setting in its proper form. Their kapu, so as to sweeten their palates and fill their bellies, fetched a couple of ganga bondālu, and a rejuvenated Sandhya then accompanied Raja Rao to pray at the nearby darga of the legendary Vali Baba, who, it was said, walked on the rivers and wasn’t wetted by the rainwater.
Returning to the Thimmaiahs for lunch, they stayed back for gossip lest their hosts should feel that they were treated as mere innkeepers. Thimmaiah poured out the problems agriculture posed, and was pleased at having a person for an audience who didn’t have ideas to differ with his own. Narasamma, however, tried to interest Sandhya with a game of dice and shells. After drubbing the bride half a dozen times, Narasamma switched over to the sport of tamarind seeds. She spread a few score of them at random on the floor at arm length. Then she tossed one up and picked up another from the spread before catching the former mid air. As the play progressed, she increased the number of pickings from the spread and yet didn’t let the freshly tossed-up one slip through her guard. Sandhya, who watched in wonderment, made a mess of it when it was her turn to try her hand.
When it was time for tea, Sandhya offered to serve them, and savoring her sweetened preparation, Thimmaiah complimented her,
“‘You seem to be one up on my old woman.”
“Honestly, I want to be her apprentice,” said Sandhya earnestly.
“I’m glad you realize that cooking is an art though these days it’s being treated as a machine craft,” Narasamma said. “Pressures of the times have brought in pressure cookers, and it’s lost on the housewife that as nature takes its own time to deliver, cooking too needs time to impart taste to the food. And if you pressure it to deliver, either way, it’s going to be a premature issue. Now it has become fashionable to talk in terms of the recipes though they’re no more than the same garam masala with different brand names. Won’t one lose the unique taste of the vegetables, the gravy being the same in every curry? Cooking seems to have fallen into the hands of the barbarians, and the family members too don’t seem to mind any more. So be it but I’ll give you some useful tips before you leave.”
“I would grab them with both hands,” said Sandhya earnestly.
“Then would be able to serve your man better,” said Narasamma and added as an afterthought,
“Are you planning to visit some temples?”
“Know they’re not on a pilgrimage,” said the old man jokingly.
“Jokes apart, I’m keen on praying at a couple of temples,” said Sandhya.
“Raja, better you spend a night or two in a houseboat on Vasishta and that would be like icing on your honey,” suggested Thimmaiah.
“That’s only when Sandhya gets over her water phobia,” said Raja Rao.
“Then take her to Vodalarevu where the Gowthami makes a ‘T’ with the Bay of Bengal, it’s a sight to see,” said Thimmaiah.
“I love to witness that, who knows, in time I might be a game even for a houseboat,” said Sandhya in excitement.
“I feel Ryali is a must visit, if only to envision the sculptured fusion of Vishnu’s front with Mohini’s back in that saligrama,” said Raja Rao to Narasamma’s delight
“God bless you people,” said Narasamma, seemingly blessing them herself. ‘It helps to place trust in God.’
“Times have changed,” said Thimmaiah. “Nowadays, it’s as though men are guided merely by religiosity and not by any religiousness. Naro narayana, man is God, that’s what our sastras preach, implying that you only reach Him through the service to humanity. But, today man seems to believe he no longer needs to serve man to please the Gods. In this jet age of non-stop flights, man seems to think he can hop to heaven with a few trips to the hallowed shrines on earth. These days no one prays to God for peace of mind; it’s his prosperity that’s at the back of his mind. Boon seeking has become the bane of the religious spirit. The more one is moved by his motive, all the more the fervency in his prayer increases. It’s as if the fellow-beings count for nothing.”
“In my opinion,” commented Raja Rao, “there is more to religion than meets the eye. It is the most effective means devised by man to hold human beings from cracking at the threshold of their anxieties. If you see, when a man is gravely ill, his wife fears that she’s on the verge of widowhood and all that goes with it. Unable to bear the anxiety about her future without him, won’t she turn to God via her religion to transfer her burden? ‘God, please save him’, she would pray for His mercy while waiting for his recovery in hopeful anticipation. Thus in the mean time, making it easy on her mind, her own anxiety lies in suspension of belief, and in the end, if he comes out true and kicking, it’s God’s grace, but were he to kick the bucket, then it’s God’s will. However, life takes over where her man would have left it, and soon she gets adjusted in the altered situation. The feature of faith is that it rescues us from going insane by helping us to face the vicissitudes of life with the religious hope.”
Thimmaiah nodded in approval as Narasamma scowled her disagreement,
“What you say might be true but it could be too sensitive for your wife.”
“I would like to see life with maturity and not approach it with sentimentality, I’m glad that I’ve found the right guide in my husband,’ said Sandhya.
“That’s the benefit of woman’s education,” said Thimmaiah greatly impressed.
“But the real tragedy of man lies not in death but in life itself,” said Raja Rao characteristically. “Man tends to nurse animosity lacking perceptivity, burdens himself with sentimentality, courts trouble thoughtlessly and then turns to god-men for deliverance. It’s a pity that man meditates for peace of mind having purchased headaches at a discount.”
Seeing the nuptial couple yawn at length, Narasamma suggested that it was time they caught up with lost sleep under the mango tree in the backyard. After siesta, however, at Sandhya’s behest, the aged couple accompanied the newly-weds in the evening to the Sathyanarayana Swamy temple on the banks of the village tank.
After the parikrama, they had the Lord’s darshan and sitting by the lake, Narasamma narrated the temple’s legend thus:
When Lega Sathyanarayana of the village went to Annavaram, the Lord visited him in his dream and directed him to begin building a temple for Him at this very spot. Once Lega returned, everything fell into place by the blessings of the Lord and the benevolence of the villagers and the others. It was thus at Godspeed this temple for the Lord was built.
On their return though, as the nuptial-couple headed home to have their way, the elderly, while preparing to receive them for dinner, reminisced about the finest day they have had in years.
“Let me repay my debt,” said Raja Rao picking the soap, as they went into the backyard for bath.
“Wait for my call,” she said smiling.
“Don’t keep me waiting,” he said ardently.
When they reached the Thimmaiahs place for dinner, seeing Sandhya in an off-white voile sari with maroon border, Narasamma was truly impressed. Though Sandhya returned upbeat after dinner, nevertheless, Raja Rao found her morose in his embrace.
“Why darling, has the honey turned bitter just after seven takings?” he said in jest.
“Don’t be cruel, somehow, I’m missing Roopa, that’s all,” she said.
“You should’ve opted to be co-wives then,” he said sharing her mood.
“To tell you the truth, we too thought so,” said Sandhya smilingly.
“If it were so, how I wish I met you both as misses,” he said as if to put ideas into her head.
“Well, but I’m in no mood to miss you now,” she said eagerly.
“Wonder how Roopa excites you as well as depresses you!” he said taking her into his arms.
“You got it my dear,” she said before he sealed her lips.
Over their weeklong stay at Kothalanka, having gauged Sandhya’s ability to take things objectively, Raja Rao thought it fit to lead her on the realistic path of life.
“Sandhya,” she heard him croon, as she lay exhausted in his arms that night, their last night of their honeymoon.
“Hahn.”
“I must confess to you that I fancied many women and even enjoyed a few of them, I even imagined that a wife could be just another woman in my life. However, you’ve made me realize that wife is man’s very own woman, different from all other women,” he said.
“Are you upset that you didn’t get a virgin man,” he enquired, as she didn’t respond
“Not at all, I was just thinking about something else,” said Sandhya.
“Normally it is better that woman keeps her past from her man but as I appreciate the proclivities of youth, you can be open with me without any hesitation,” he said setting the standard for their relationship.
Then she readily narrated her experience in the city bus, and said, sinking into his chest,